


Enchanté (Once Upon a Nightmare)

by MidknightMasquerade



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Canon-Typical Violence, Dark Magic, Deeprealms, F/M, Invisible Kingdom | Revelation Route, Mind Control, Obsessive Behavior, Rare Pairings, Seduction to the Dark Side, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 02:46:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8353900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidknightMasquerade/pseuds/MidknightMasquerade
Summary: "That must be some spell you have them under."
  "I'm afraid there's no real magic at play here. I'm no magician, and even if I were, I can't imagine I'd be a very good one." Rhajat rushes to react, but he holds up a single finger that silences her. "However, consider this - the arcane arts aren't the only type of magic that exists out there." Oh, how she wishes she could correct him. After all, she knows all there is to know about the supernatural. Shouldn't she be the one educating him? Still, despite her studies, she knew no answer to this enigma. 
  "Why, Rhajat, aren't you already aware? Melodies hold a magic all their own."
In which introductions between two unlikely allies leads to an enchanting connection - but all magic comes with a price. [Shigure/Rhajat] [Canon-Divergent Revelations Route]





	

The first time she finds him, it is in a forest, surrounded by furry friends as he sings a song for them.

How disgustingly innocent.

She had hardly expected to discover another human here in the Deeprealms beyond those instructed to care for her (whom, in all honesty, she could have done without - she'd have preferred isolation instead of suffocation). Lesser still had she expected for the first living being she comes across to sit atop a tree trunk and lure a litany of animals to his side with the most admittedly-mesmerizing melody. Laid across the lumber with sunlight streaming through the treetops, he seems much too like something straight out of a fairytale, some mythical prince summoning the animals of nature to aid him in his heroic quest. Yuck. She hadn't the stomach for such spineless types.

Still, something urges her on, a question keeping her in place. What spell had he put those animals under? Rhajat had attempted every magical incantation known to man, and some only known to monsters, and she still had yet to come across a charm that called cute, useless strays to serve you. She must discover his secret - for research, of course.

Suddenly, his song stops. The animals seem to stir, but he only laughs. It's much too pretty a sound for a man to make. "It seems we have another animal in our midst..." The creatures start to turn their heads, as though they understood him, though their search availed to nothing. "...a serpent, perhaps?" A squirrel squeals, a chipmunk squeaks, but this stranger simply laughs all the more and hushes them. "Quiet, quiet, it's okay. I'm sure it means us no harm." His eyes hone in on her hiding place, shining like a spotlight on her secret spot. "Come out, come out, wherever you are. My friends here won't hide from you - won't you do the same for them?"

 _Drat, I've been discovered_. She's supposed to be a better stalker than this, but she seems completely incapable of doing so when discoveries were at stake. She'd be sure to hex the hell out of him later for finding her. Snarling, Rhajat complies with his request, stepping out from the shrubs and into the open. "I'm no _snake_ ," she hisses, "I'm Rhajat - and I wasn't _hiding_ , I was _watching_. There's a difference."

The stranger only giggles that aggravating giggle again. What, did he have a death wish? One more chuckle like that and he'd only have half a tongue to laugh with. "It appears you're only doing what snakes do best," his grin grows then, and she swears he's enjoying this, "--lie."

Her hands clench into tight fists, struggling not to strangle this stranger here and now for infuriating her so (and for seeming so insipidly sweet all the while). She cannot snap, not yet. She has answers still to seek. "These animals sure seem friendly with you," she remarks, trying to seem casual, but even she can sense the tension in her tone. Clearing her throat, she tries again. "They always run away from me..." Truth be told, they appeared ready to run at any minute now. She tries a smile at them. It doesn't help. "That must be some spell you have them under."

"No."

The answer is short, sweet, simple. She cannot accept it. " _No_?" She echoes with a more intimidating tone than she means to. "Now look who's lying? I _know_ you cast some sort of spell. A summoning spell? A charming ritual? You have to done something!"

Her rant has yet to truly intimidate the other, although he appears to be discomforted somewhat. She supposes she always has that effect on people. He crosses his legs and folds his hands perfectly atop of them before answering. "I'm afraid there's no real magic at play here. I'm no magician, and even if I were, I can't imagine I'd be a very good one." Rhajat rushes to react, but he holds up a single finger that silences her. "However, consider this - the arcane arts aren't the only type of magic that exists out there." Oh, how she wishes she could correct him. After all, she knows all there is to know about the supernatural. Shouldn't she be the one educating him? Still, despite her studies, she knew no answer to this enigma. "Why, Rhajat, aren't you already aware? Melodies hold a magic all their own."

She hadn't considered spells woven into songs. Truth be told, she knew not a single note, nor an ounce of musical theory. Her father failed to teach her anything of the sort, and gods above, how she wished her mother didn't try to. She had always simply considered it as useless as the animals that sat before them. Could she have always been wrong? "Teach me," she petitions, pleads, _demands_ , "show me your secrets."

He snickers then, a smirk slithering further across his features, before taking her hand in his (and gods, she swears there's a spell seeping through his fingertips and into her own flesh, for fire unlike any she's ever manifested now festers in her skin at the slightest touch of his hand). "What's the magic word?" He was _definitely_ enjoying this. 

She grits her teeth, swallows her pride. _It will all be worth it, Rhajat_. "...please." She spits it out so pitifully that she felt she might laugh at herself then, but all he does is smile down at her with sunshine in his eyes that cast shadows across his face.

"Well then, Rhajat, well met. I am Shigure - enchanted to meet you."

* * *

"Youuuu are the oooocean's gray waaaaaAAAAAIT YOU STUPID SQUIRREL, COME BACK BEFORE HERE I HEX YOU!"

Needless to say, another failed attempt.

Despite her expertise in enchanting, Rhajat appeared completely incompetent when it came to charming anything more intimidating than a moth. The furry rodents of the forest were far too fearful of the aura around here, this looming gloom that emanated out from within her whenever she entered the woodlands. She was no damsel-in-distress spinning soliloquies for her soon-to-be savior, and she certainly was not Shigure.

The successful singer now sat across from his exasperated apprentice, sighing heavily as the squirrel shot into the nearest tree trunk it could find. Rhajat, of course, could only claw at the bark until it bit into her skin and scream obscenities at the wildlife within. "Perhaps we ought to take a break?"

"I don't understand, why can't I do this!?" Seems his suggestion would only be ignored...again. "I can cast a thunder bolt to strike a stone a thousand yards away, I can communicate with spirits long since deceased, but I can't cause this squirrel to glance in y general direction!?" With a grunt, the witch thrust her fist against the side of the tree. The branches above her began to shudder at her strike before dropping a product of their bounty right atop the head of Rhajat. "...oh great. Just what I needed." Peering down, she discovered the apple that had attacked her. "Remind me to hex that later."

Shigure had opened his mouth to speak (but not too soon, for he had almost erupted into laughter, and had learned long ago not to snicker at Rhajat's expense - unless you wanted to be an ingredient in her next potion, that is) when the same squirrel from earlier pokes its head outside of its hiding spot. Creeping out, the creature attempts to procure the apple from his assailant's grasp before her blood dripped down onto its stem. The squirrel rushes inside to safety yet again. Rhajat curses - quite literally - her luck, and her bleeding limb. Shigure's eyes shine with interest.

He has an idea.

Rushing over, Shigure retrieves the apple and holds it up to eye level with Rhajat. " _Can_ you hex this?"

Rhajat snorts, offended. "You mock me. Of course I can. It's not something challenging like a corpse or a sacred stone..." Both glance down at the ground. "...or a squirrel." She attempts to snatch it out from his hands, but he refuses to release it. Not yet.

"Fine then. Not can you, _will_ you? Right here, right now?" Shigure's eyes radiate with an intensity Rhajat does not understand but does not reject. Without further retaliation, she breathes her incantation into the blood atop the apple. Immediately, the liquid bubbles and boils, dripping down across the entirety of the fruit until it is dyed a deep, poisonous purple. Wordlessly, Shigure bends down and kneels in the earth beneath him.

That ominous song starts to resonate in the atmosphere once more, summoning the squirrel out from its hiding place. Shigure ushers it further, outstretching the hand that held his treasure, extending an invitation. _Come closer, I promise not to bite. Taste and see that my intentions are innocent_. Reluctantly, the creature complies, poking at the apple's curious coloring before beginning to nibble at its outer shell.

It takes only seconds for the squirrel to start convulsing in the soil. Paws writhe, its spine seizing, foam frothing at its mouth. The melody reaches its crescendo as bones start to crush and crack, reforming this once-fragile rodent into a furious Faceless. Pleased, Shigure halts his song and turns towards a mortified Rhajat.

"You see? I may summon animals, but _you_ , dear Rhajat, summon monsters."

* * *

"...do you ever feel lonely?"

It's one of his "moody" days again, when the most meaningful activity amounts to starting at the sunset and moping around like a kicked puppy. She scoffs. "Of course not. We have a whole horde of animals, thanks to you, and a family of Faceless, thanks to me." Softer then, perhaps too soft for him to hear, she utters. "...and besides, I have you."

Whether he hears her or not, she does not know, for he refuses to acknowledge the admittance. "Monsters don't make good company." With a sigh, he rests his chin atop propped-up kneecaps. "...do you miss your parents?

She scoffs even harder at that. "Please. My father's a child - I can hardly call him 'dad'." Rhajat morphs the embers in her hands, lets the flames take the form of her father. It does not bother her to watch him burn. "Mother...sometimes, I miss her." Another flick of her fingers, another figure aflame. "...but it's their fault we're trapped in here in the first place."

Shigure's eyes widen, suddenly at attention. A sadness settles in them, then, and he chokes. "So...you resent yours, too?"

She does not dignify that with a response. He doesn't need her to.

"Perhaps, one day..." he turns away from her again, until the sun sets against the hilltops and shadows sit atop his shoulders. That strange wistfulness that always awoke on days such as these dimmed the light in his eyes. "...one day, I'll tell them my tale. I'll show them how much they've hurt me. That way...we can be together again...at least, for a moment."

And so, the caged bird sang.

* * *

Soon, Shigure sets their schemes into motion.

She has no memory of a night without him, not anymore. Though no agreement had been reached, he had chosen to stay at her house for an unspecific amount of time, or at least until their mission was accomplished - for her own safety, of course. Too cooped up in isolation, having cast aside even her own caretakers, she had inadvertently required him to stride in like a knight in shining armor and rescue her from his crypt of a cottage. Or so he believed, and so too was she willing to. "Let me take care of you," he entreats, an all too romantic request for someone as certainly _not_ interested in any way, shape or form as she is.

...damn it all, she likes him.

In fact, she could even _love_ him, for who else would she be so enamored with as to accept a foolhardy request from? Now, together as one (couple? comrades? friends with benefits?) whatever-they-were worked and worked and worked and never stopped progressing their plot. She cannot even conceive of the last time she stopped shifting furballs into Faceless or thumbing through thoroughly-dusted tomes or asking Shigure for more, more, _more_ animals to morph.

She is an addict, this spellpower her drug, and Shigure her dealer.

He always insists on humming that haunting tune to himself while they works. She notices, how can she not, when she has all but memorized the location of every accented note, repeated the rhythm in her head without need for a metronome, and craved the comfort it brought her to hear this heathen's hymn night after night after night. Perhaps it brought her more pleasure than the animals it summoned. He never stops singing, she notices one evening, but she cannot claim to mind. She is as spellbound by the song as she is its singer.

Whenever the arrangement reaches its crescendo, she recalls the crackling sounds of their first experiment and her soul surges with revived vigor. Newfound energy worms its way inside her, revitalizing her tired spirit. _Keep going_ , it pleads, _push past the pain_.

Morph, morph, morph.  
More, more, more.  
Overdose, overdose, overdose.

It is not until an army of feral Faceless stands at attention, saluting their summoner, that Shigure stops singing and she slumps against his chest. She cannot stand on her own, not anymore. His support has become a necessity, no longer a desire. _It's okay_ , she convinces herself, _it's okay, as long as it's all for him_. "We did it...we're done."

With a hint of laughter, Shigure slips his hand into hers. That same electricity courses through her core, enchanting her all the more.

"Well done, my queen."

* * *

"You are the ocean's gray waves..."

Her husband's hymnal echoes throughout every corridor of the castle - _their_ castle, as Rhajat so quickly claimed it - its elegy a death knell to all who heard its call. Should Shigure be the harbinger signaling Death's advent, then Rhajat was surely the Reaper, harvesting the souls of those who heard her siren song. The soundwaves crash against the shores of soldier's ears, eroding their ear drums until the sound of steel on shields and magic melting men seemed a more amusing accompaniment.

Shigure soars above the battlefield on his steed, his bride seated behind him. He lets his music move his men, his monsters, his _marionettes_ , marching them onward into war. And what wonderful additions to their army of minions they made! Shigure's father was first to fall, his lecherous skin soaked in scales of emerald, one sole eyepatch the only article of clothing distinguishing him from the rest of the generic goons and goblins. As Rhajat converted the corpse into a creature of her own invention, she supposed he would have enjoyed the nudity. Her own father fell almost as swiftly, the frost of a Fimbulvetr tome gifted to his dearest daughter stealing the last breath from his lungs. What a puny pawn of a Faceless he'd made, unlikely to even last through this battle. Unremarkable in life and in death. Pity - she'd expected more of the man who dared to deem he'd raised her. Last, but not least, her own mother, Orochi with her eights heads screaming like a hydra, scourged the battlegrounds, hungry for food to satiate her rage.

Shigure's mother would've made the most lovely minion, had the damn woman not dissipated into water as soon as they slaughtered her. Such a shame.

Just as they wished, as the sun set across the horizon of the Deeprealms so long ago, they were one happy, powerhungry family again. Or at least, as much as was physically possible, evaporating parents aside. Together, they would rule a world they were _never_ allowed entrance to.

Now, they enter battle astride a beast of beauty, invading the home they should have had. Nohr held naught a candle in comparison. Shigure's pegasus shrieks, extending its wings so wide that it blots out the only source of light. The sun once shone through the stained glass of the throne room's ceiling, bathing the room in a shower of prismatic colors. Now, the battlefield is all but drenched in an ocean of shadows.

Corrin's army shrinks quickly. Men become meals by the minute until the chosen one herself stands atop the throne that keeps them from their kingdom. The Yato shivers in her hand, its holy light long since dimmed by the shade of sorcery. Ah, excellent. It seemed the hexes had struck a chord in her. The curse could cause her hand to wither, were she daring enough to raise it against Shigure, whose songs seemed to sap her of her energy as much as they instilled a new sense of life in the Faceless.

"Would you like to do the honors, my dark queen?" He extends his hand to her, offering her a safe fall to the floor below.

"Certainly, my lord of light. Heeheehehehe..." Rhajat descends from the sky in a cloud of feathers. The whiteness of the steed's wings were long died burgundy with blood. Corrin considers that she seems almost an angel then, or a demon, or some cryptic combination of the two. She wonders if there were ever any difference between them to start with.

Rhajat takes her time slithering across the throne room, savoring the sweet taste of triumph. One step closer and Corrin cries out. "Why?" Her hand can scarcely wield the weapon she wants to raise any longer. Another step. "Why would you do this to us!?" The Yato clatters to the floor, filling the throne room with a sound so dissonant to the harmonious humming Shigure still sings. One more step. "We were your _family_!"

The words stop Rhajat cold in her tracks. For a second, even Shigure's song stutters, a broken record caught in the midst of its track. Corrin cannot tell whether she's won or made her imminent death that much worse. Rhajat encroaches upon her, approaching her with an unreadable expression. "You want to know why?" The music resumes. "Maybe if someone saved us from the Deeprealms, instead of forcing us to save ourselves, then you would know why." She is close enough to touch, to kiss, to _kill_ , but Corrin can do no such thing now, for her limbs lay paralyzed with terror. Rhajat reaches up, cups unblemished skin with her hand - a surprising gesture for one she scarcely knew, but one that felt familiar all the same. Drawing closer, she whispers, "...maybe if you were the one to save me, I'd be obsessed with you, instead."

Corrin asks no more questions. She cannot, not with lightning lacing through her bloodstream until her body bends, breaks, crumbles. The corpse shivers and shudders; once, twice, clinging for life; before finally failing to flinch. Shigure's song finally finishes. The war is won.

Shigure descends from the sky, dropping from his mount for but a moment before he scoops Rhajat right up into his arms. He twirls her round and round, a morbid dance amidst a cemetery of slaughtered souls. Their cackles ricochet throughout the throne room - _their_ throne room. "We did it, my queen," he whispers, his voice hoarse from projecting atop the cacophony of fighting. "The kingdom is ours."

The need for dialogue no longer existent, they replace the empty space with their lips. Their sin is sealed with a kiss. Tongues interlock with one another as they land atop the throne, Corrin's corpse kicked aside as Shigure settles them into a seat too big for two. As soon as they pry themselves away from one another, Shigure smiles. "Is it too early for a celebratory surprise?"

Rhajat leans back, studying his expression as she lays herself within his lap. "There wasn't exactly time to shop...and it's a little early to christen the throne..." Still, curiosity spurs her on. "...what did you have in mind?"

Shigure reaches into the pouch at his side, and from its fabric, he pulls an apple. Shades of amethyst saturated the skin until the fruit itself seemed to reflect the night sky. No doubt his artistic expertise came into play here, and even less doubtful that he hadn't planned this for far too long. She steals it from atop his fingertips, swirling it about her own so as to admire every detail. Shigure spared no space, painting the entirety of the product in captivating colors. "Devious," she breaths, the light from his own eyes illuminating her irises. He is all too pleased to hear her say so. "...but clever." She swoops in, snatches another kiss, and he laughs against her lips.

"To us," Shigure states, intertwining their fingers until Rhajat cannot concentrate on any thought besides that of the shock surging through her at his hand inside of hers. Not even matrimony had ebbed away at her obsession. He begins his song anew, and she cannot stand it, but she cannot stand upsetting him more so, and so, she raises the apple upwards, as though it were the world's richest champagne, before biting into its core.

"You've made me many a monster," Shigure starts his speech, his free hand fondling her hair. She giggles and - gods, is she lightheaded? Or is he pulling her hair a little too hard? - slowly struggles to swallow as her husband continues to speak, "but there was one I wanted most of all that I couldn't claim until today."

She supposes he speaks of Corrin, whose corpse has already started to shift into draconic form, the remnant of a martyr meant-to-be. A fine fiend she would make, the trophy to rest atop the mantle of their monster collection. It was Corrin he spoke of, it had to be, she assumes. That is, until the savory taste of an apple turned sour starts to sting her throat and the sight of Shigure's ever-expanding smile sets her heart to racing for reasons she's starting to comprehend differently and the sound of songs of oceans starts thrumming against her skull until it _just won't stop_.

Shigure was wrong. She was no snake - she is a squirrel, thrashing against the soiled floor for dear life as her bones break in beautiful harmony with the melody Shigure still sings beneath his breath. She screams for more, desperate for her dealer to save her, but he has stopped listening. Rhajat reaches for the throne, for her knight-turned-king in glistening armor, for her only hope of salvation. Instead, she sees the sun she swore originated inside of him shining through stained glass, only to be halted by his back. Instead, she sees the shadows that dance across his face, the ones she always chose to assume were only caused by melancholy and not by corruption. Instead, she sees the monster inside the man - or was it the monster she'd made herself?

"The monster I've always wanted...was _you_."

And what a magnificent nightmare she made.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all _so_ much for taking the time to read through this insane story!  
>  I hope that I helped some people to consider Shigure/Rhajat (Shajat? Rhigure?) as a potential ship...and then squashed all of their hopes and dreams with that ending. Sorrynotsorry. Did you expect Shigure to be the one seducing Rhajat to the dark side, or was that super obvious...or had you expected the other way around?
> 
> There are far too many references to list them all here. Fairytales, such as Snow White and Beauty and the Beast, served as inspirations for certain segments (...and no, not because Shigure looks like a Disney prince...although that may have inspired his initial entrance) and "Once Upon a Nightmare" is taken from Sleeping Beauty's "Once Upon a Dream". But the Lana Del Ray version because gurl is crazy creepy. Their sibling support conversations certainly inspired their introduction scene. Plus, there were plenty of references to other characters, portions of other supports, etc. littered throughout. And yes, I was totally trying to break the fourth wall with the comments Rhajat makes on Lost in Thoughts All Alone - because we all know it's super catchy but we also might never want to hear it again for as long as we all shall live. If you find any others unlisted, let me know! ...and typos, because I cannot stare at my screen anymore.


End file.
